Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Sprout Social, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from twelve brokerages, with one sell rating, five hold ratings, and six buy ratings.
• The stock's average 12-month price target among analysts is $29.17, with significant recent cuts from firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, reflecting a bearish outlook.
• Despite reporting better-than-expected earnings with $109.29 million in revenue, Sprout Social faces challenges with a negative net margin of 14.25% and predictions of -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shares of Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.1667.

A number of analysts have recently commented on SPT shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Sprout Social from $38.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sprout Social from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of SPT traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $16.23. 612,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 627,611. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Sprout Social has a twelve month low of $16.18 and a twelve month high of $36.30. The business's 50-day moving average price is $20.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.49.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $109.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.63 million. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 31.03% and a negative net margin of 14.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprout Social news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.12, for a total value of $844,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,647.04. This represents a 84.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $95,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,963 shares in the company, valued at $551,745.15. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,375 shares of company stock worth $2,389,535 over the last quarter. 10.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 83,141 shares of the company's stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,861 shares of the company's stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 85.2% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,463 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,367 shares of the company's stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,893 shares of the company's stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period.

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social, Inc designs, develops, and operates a web-based social media management platform in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides cloud software for social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence, and action.